The Hive

No one wants to see a game fail, especially when it's a conversion of a hot PC product. But The Hive does fail, thanks to rotten controls and lame gameplay.

To Laser with Love

The Hive is a shooter that's very similar to StarBlade Alpha, where your ship is on tracks. Elements like piloting through a fiery descent into the atmosphere vary the mind-numbing boredom, but it all still adds up to a big zero.

The Hive's gorgeous cut scenes are smooth and well animated, but the gameplay graphics suck like an expensive Hoover. You won't give a damn about the story line either once you're behind the horrible controls.

The major problem is the limp controls. The cursor moves slower than the oncoming ships, and maneuvering through some scenes, such as the attack in the mountainous snowy battlefield, require the patience of a saint. You'll be more frustrated than fascinated.

Hive and No Seek

The graphics reveal blockiness and bad compression, and they don't do justice to the PlayStation's graphical strength. For instance, the enemy ships in Novastorm far outclass those in this game.

The sound gets your hopes up. Terrific symphonic music is undercut, however, by weak laser shots and an annoying onboard computer voice that is barely audible.

The bottom line is that The Hive is awful. Fans of the PC game may wonder why this version was even released. The rest of us will lament, "What Hive I done to serve this?"

Giant mutant...er... bees called Hivasects are laying waste to the galaxy, and this one-player action game sends you after them and their honey, which the galactic mafia plans to use as a biological weapon.

The gameplay involves fixed-path shooting in rendered 3D environments that range from outer space to snow-crusted ice planets.

The randomized levels reposition the targets every time you return, keeping the action fresh for more insect annihilation.

The Hive is segmented sci-fi set up to provide serious 'sects education...insects, that is. A mutant strain of insects is on the loose. They've been genetically engineered to produce a "honey" that can be refined into a deadly biological weapon. It's already destroyed half the galaxy, and now a crime syndicate is selling the stuff to the highest bidder. Since the Ortho Man isn't around, that leaves only you-know-who to save the day.

There will be plenty of detective work but you won't have to pack up your trigger fingers. You'll face radical dogfights set in outer space and run-n-gun through planet-side shootouts, too. The Hive could really bug intense gamers. It's coming to the PlayStation, too.